THERE was severe turbulence over Russia as I wrote this article during the flight home from China.

I couldn’t help but think the description applied to more than the weather but I also reflected I was leaving a country that, despite mounting provocation from the West, was decidedly calm and confident in itself.

China was just getting on with its business and this was reflected in its approach to international relations.

In a speech largely ignored by the Western corporate media, Chinese President Xi Jinping recently delivered a landmark speech at a Conference Marking 70 years of the Chinese Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

During the speech, Xi underlined how these important principles could guide the partnership and coexistence of countries to develop collaboration among developing countries.

Given that it is likely to soon become the world’s major economic power, it might be a surprise to many that China still regards itself as a developing country and a firm part of the global South. But they most certainly do.

Confirming this, Xi announced the establishment of a global South research centre last week.

The research centre will, in the next five years, offer 1,000 scholarships to countries in the global South and around 100,000 training opportunities.

The centre will also establish a global South youth leadership programme.

This new global South research centre could just be a real game-changer for thousands of young people in the global South and I hope it can be expanded to include the global South’s wider diaspora.

The announcement of the Five Principles in 1954 by the legendary Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was a landmark moment in history.

Unfortunately, the Western powers, aided and abetted by their stenographers from the corporate media, have largely ignored it.

The announcement was made against the backdrop of the cold war and followed decades of struggle to bring down the brutal colonial rule of the Western powers.

Countries of the global South began to throw off the shackles of colonialism and begin their own long march to genuine independence.

Zhou proposed the principles of mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence as a contrast and guide to the prevailing system of international relations dominated by the US.

The Five Principles give concrete expression to the purposes and principles of the UN charter, but are often ignored by the US and its allies when it suits them to do so.

There is high rhetoric from the Western powers in support of the words in the principles — who could disagree with them? — but their implementation is often over-ridden by whatever is regarded as the political imperative of the time.

Nevertheless, the principles play an important role in promoting global peace and human progress and offer a peaceful way of resolving bilateral and multilateral disputes.

Increasingly the Five Principles reflect the new and developing expectations of nations of the global South for the way they expect international relations to be conducted.

This is why more of them are removing themselves from the orbit of the US and have become increasingly tired of being told what to do and when to do it.

The world is undergoing unprecedented changes, thanks to the rapid development of science and technology, especially information and communications technology, including artificial intelligence and big data.

But the hegemonic bullying tactics of the US and others seem intent on meeting these challenges by intimidating weaker nations and trying to sanction and threaten war against the stronger ones.

They continue to play a zero-sum game of international relations rather than the win-win game that the Chinese have spent years attempting to promote.

This makes the Five Principles more relevant today than they have ever been.

I have spent the last year trying to learn more about the Chinese road to communism. I have been fortunate enough to have been able to visit this beautiful and inspirational country twice in a short period.

One of the many things that has impressed me is the way the Chinese have attempted to blend ancient Chinese wisdom with cutting-edge thinking.

They have not been afraid to chart their own path towards socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The Five Principles are firmly rooted in ancient Chinese wisdom applied to the challenges facing the world today and form the cornerstone for the way China conducts its diplomacy — despite how the stenographers of the West attempt to portray it.

The goal of Chinese diplomacy is to foster relations between nations based on mutual respect and equality, while working to enhance the international order toward fairness, justice and mutually beneficial co-operation.

The core approach is that no country should monopolise international relations, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected, and countries with different political systems can and should coexist peacefully.

Non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs has become a basic principle for enhancing solidarity and co-operation among countries across the world.

Some have portrayed this as China not living up to its position as one of the most important powers on the planet. But this is the role the US has attempted to play for decades by interfering in the domestic affairs of other nations in its self-appointed role as the world’s police authority.

It is precisely this poking around into other countries’ business that has left the US increasingly isolated on the world stage.

China is entirely correct not to fall into this same trap.

China and the rest of the world should work jointly, without threats, to uphold common security and development and to foster win-win co-operation, inclusiveness, mutual learning, fairness and justice in the new era.

The Chinese and, indeed, global South notion of building a shared future for mankind goes against everything that the US and its gun-toting allies have been attempting to do for years.

The US and its posse have no intention of simply rolling over and allowing the Chinese and what my comrade Vijay Prashad describes as the “darker nations,” to run them out of town.

They will use any means at their disposal to fight back against any challenge to their dominance.

The world — not just Russia — has entered a period of turbulence and transformation. Yet the overall direction of human development and progress will not change.

The movement towards a shared future for the international community will continue even though it is likely to be subject to the zigs and zags that Frederick Engels predicted many years ago. This is the nature of the fight against capitalist exploitation.

But we can draw strength from the fact that China is on our side as a global South family member.

Every pronouncement from the Chinese government reveals its determination to continue to work with other developing countries to carry forward the Five Principles.

Allied to ancient African and indigenous wisdom, the question many of us reading this article should be asking is: “What can I do to help?”

This is the third and final article from Morning Star international editor Roger McKenzie following his recent visit to China.